New Zealand feature film, Deathgasm will have its world premiere in the Midnighter’s section of the 2015 South By Southwest Festival. Canadian-New Zealand co-production, Turbo Kid, which premiered at Sundance in January, will also screen in this section.
Deathgasm was funded by Make My Horror Movie, a contest in which would-be horror movie makers submitted a synopsis and poster to compete for $200 000 to make their film a reality.
Written and directed by Jason Lei Howden, Deathgasm is the story of two teenage metal fans who unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity, known as the Blind One, when they delve into black magic as a way to escape their mundane lives. Produced by Andrew Beattie, Sarah Howden and Morgan Leigh Stewart, and Executive Produced by Ant Timpson, the film is financed by Metalheads, MPI Media Group, the New Zealand Film Commission and Timpson Films. MPI Media are world sales agent and will distribute the film in the US and Canada.
Deathgasm will screen in the sought-after Saturday night slot at SXSW.
Turbo Kid, written and directed by Canada’s Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell, and produced by Ant Timpson and Tim Riley for New Zealand and Benoit Beaulieu and Anne-Marie Gélinas for Canada, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was listed as one of the best films at Sundance by both Slashfilm and High Snobiety, while Wired's review of the film says "Nothing we saw at Sundance was as much fun as Turbo Kid...".
Turbo Kid is financed by Telefilm Canada, the New Zealand Film Commission, the Quebec Provincial Tax Credit Program, the Canadian Tax Credit Program and Alchemy 24, and collaborators Cinepool, Departement Camera and Curious Films. The film will be distributed in Canada by Raven Banner and in Quebec by Filmoption International. Epic Picture Group is representing world sales outside of Australia,New Zealand and Canada.